ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's basketball team gave visiting DeSales University one of their toughest conference tests of the season in a 63-47 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Dutchmen (13-10, 7-5 MAC Freedom) honored their three seniors prior to the last regular season home game of the year. They then treated the large Hot Dog Frank Day crowd to a show against the Bulldogs (21-2, 12-0 MAC Freedom) who entered the game ranked 15th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and fresh off clinching the Regular Season Championship on Wednesday.
 
DeSales scored on the opening possession of the game and LVC responded with a Riley Hevelow pull up jumper to even things up. The Bulldogs scored the next four points and then Kate Fitzpatrick knocked down a pair of jumpers to keep the Dutchmen within two. The Bulldogs grew the lead to 12-6 with just under five minutes to play in a defensive quarter before Kailey Eckhart scored on a driving layup and then Hevelow knocked down a three in transition to cut the lead to one. After the teams traded buckets, Fitzpatrick knocked down a jumper off a turnover to give LVC a 15-14 lead with just over two minutes to play. The Bulldogs hit a pair of threes over the final two minutes to take a 20-15 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Bulldogs continued their run into the second quarter scoring the first seven points in two minutes to take a 12-point lead. Hevelow ended the run with a bucket off an assist by Cristina Fernandez. The Dutchmen were able to get the lead down to eight with a little over two minutes to play as Fitzpatrick scored on a layup off a give-and-go with Eckhart while getting fouled. She then sank the free throw to make it 31-23 in favor of DSU. The Bulldogs scored their final bucket of the half with just over a minute to play before Fitzpatrick closed the half with five straight points. The senior knocked down a pair of shots at the line and then hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to five.
 
DeSales came out of the halftime break strong with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes to extend the lead to 11 and force the Dutchmen to call their first timeout of the half. Hevelow scored LVC's first points of the half on a pull up jumper at the top of the key before DSU rattled off the next six points to take a 45-30 lead with 3:30 to go in the quarter. Fitzpatrick found Eckhart open for a trey to being the Dutchmen within 12 points. The teams traded buckets ending with Jordan Zimmerman finding Fernandez open for jumper with a little over a minute to go in the quarter. The Bulldogs hit the backend of two free throws to take a 50-37 advantage into the final quarter.
 
The fourth quarter began with the Bulldogs using a pair of three-pointers to take a 58-40 lead. Fernandez knocked down a three for the Dutchmen to keep the lead from going over 20 points. Brielle Reidinger scored off a nice pass down low from Fitzpatrick to make it a 16-point advantage with 6:22 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs responded with a layup before Hevelow knocked down a three with a little over three minutes remaining to bring the score to 60-45. Fitzpatrick scored on a driving layup with a minute and a half to go and then the bulldogs hit a three at the other end of the court to wrap up the scoring.
 
Inside the Box

• Fitzpatrick scored 18 points on her Senior Day in what could be her last game inside Sorrentino Gymnasium. The guard added three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
• Hevelow finished with 14 points and five rebounds on 6-13 shooting from the field. The junior knocked down a pair of threes.
• Eckhart had seven points and five rebounds.
• Fernandez filled the stat sheet with five points, four blocks, three rebounds, and two assists.
• The Dutchmen committed just eight turnovers against the Bulldogs' full-court defense while forcing DSU to make 11.
• LVC is the only team in the conference to be defeated by less than 20 points to the Bulldogs this year while dropping both matchups by 16 points.

 
Up Next
The Dutchmen will be on the road for the final two games and control their own destiny in qualifying for the MAC Freedom Championships. LVC is currently in a three-way tie for third with Delaware Valley and Stevens but two wins this week will clinch a berth for the Dutchmen. LVC will head north to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip at King's College.

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